Reefer Madness Engulfs California

by paradox

As we all know on January 1st the Golden State went cannabis green, be over 21, walk into a retail establishment conforming to local rules, pay serious taxes, put down some cash and mary jane is yours with a smile, be it flowers, edibles or vape oil. 77 days have since passed since this glorious milestone of progress has been with us and it’s a good idea to see how legalization is going in the greatest Republic the world has ever seen.

Definitive social truth is a ridiculously elusive goal, but observations on the lack of certain effects can be enormously valuable. The lack of effect is a huge deal in life, right, enjoy a sweet diet soda but don’t gain weight. Use birth control, don’t get her pregnant at 17.

Dismissing Tillerson, Trump Gives Foggy Bottom to the Koch Brothers

by Deacon Blues

With Donald Trump's classless dismissal of Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State today, you can be sure that the Iran nuclear deal is dead. A war with Iran is on the horizon, and no one in the White House will stand up to Trump to stop him.

While Beltway types rush to sing Mike Pompeo's praises today as Tillerson's replacement at State, remember that it was only two short years ago that Pompeo was just another House GOP nutcase fixated on spreading false Benghazi rumors, and who was just last week spreading falsehoods about Trump and Russia. Trump's move today signals the beginning of a purge where he restocks his team with sycophants and groupthink, thereby letting Trump be Trump again as he switches back into campaign mode 24/7/365 with still almost 3 years left in his term.

Next to go will be National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster, who will be shuffled out of the White House into a 4-star command somewhere, to be replaced by cable TV crazyman John Bolton. Then add departed National Economic Council chair Gary Cohn being replaced by faux economist and cable TV idiot Larry Kudlow, and then the replacement of AG Jeff Sessions by any willing idiot and enabler, what you'll have is a cabinet that enables Trump. And one that enriches the Koch brothers.

Imagine a situation this summer where Trump has torn up the Iran deal with Pompeo and Bolton's full support, and with the walls closing in from the Mueller investigation, he decides to start a war. Do you really think a team of NSA Bolton, Pompeo, Mick Mulvaney as Chief of Staff, woebegone UN ambassador Nicky Haley, and even Mattis at Defense will stop Trump? And this assumes that Mattis is still there, if he doesn't follow through on the purported "suicide pact" between him and Kelly now that the first domino, Tillerson, has been dispatched.

A Legacy of Service and Sacrifice

by paradox

Perusing the New York Times the last ten days two immediate government observations stay with me, the first that despite all the ferocious bluster and posturing around nuclear North Korea the United States has no ambassador to South Korea.

Despite not having a security clearance that disturbingly smirking Jared Kushner just met with high government officials of Mexico, yet the ambassador to Mexico—an amazingly qualified woman with 30 years of experience—was shut out of the meetings.

Democrats Use Trump Tax Cuts for Infrastructure Plan - Bravo!

by Deacon Blues

Back on February 11th, after Trump rolled out his limp infrastructure plan than had only $200 billion in real spending over ten years and no actual jobs, I argued that Senate Democrats should pounce on that decrepit plan and roll out a real infrastructure plan, and change the tax cut debate by repurposing the Trump tax cuts into infrastructure funding.

Today, I'm pleased to say that Chuck Schumer did exactly that, and set in motion a winning message for the midterms, whereby the Democratic Party can tell voters they can keep their middle class tax cuts and get 15 million new jobs along with big infrastructure spending, while Republicans want to keep corporate and wealthy tax cuts and offer almost no jobs and spending.

Take your pick. And as evidenced by the pathetic GOP response from both the White House and the Senate, along with the lame response from a corporate front group, the GOP message will lose this fall. Given that a recent poll showed nearly 90% support for major infrastructure spending, Democrats should be pounding this reframing of the tax cut debate every day until November.

Trump May Kill GOP's 2020 Chances

by Deacon Blues

Yes, it's early still, unless the Trump fatigue is already setting in with the electorate. But if you want to assess the damage that the Trump presidency has done to the modern GOP, consider this: At this early point in his presidency, Trump would lose the 2020 race by 8 points to a generic Democratic opponent. But that's not the half of it.

Even if the GOP gets rid of Trump between now and the 2020 election, they would lose worse, by 14 points.

Sure, the poll shows a large number of undecided voters as you would expect with a generic, nonspecific set of choices. But this poll shows how badly Trump and the GOP Congress have damaged the Republican brand.

Trump May Claim Credit on North Korea

by Deacon Blues

I want to give credit where credit is due: Donald Trump's amateurish yet consistent behavior towards North Korea may about to bear fruit. Yes, the rhetoric and approach have been scary and buffoonish at times, but it also is true that letting Seoul take the lead in working with Pyongyang, and implementing tough sanctions to back up that sophomoric rhetoric has apparently led North Korea to the bargaining table.

What I Want Most of All

by paradox

Out of a sense of duty to country and first amendment I subscribed to the New York Times and Washington Post last week. Putting aside their vast issues of incompetence and mismanagement it’s still vitally important for the country to have thriving, viable journalism living fully within the first amendment, it’s worth my tiny investment to subscribe.

I was obnoxious about it, of course, even though I was forking over hard-earned cash I let them know it wasn’t for them, it was for country. This heinously stupid stance of we didn’t do anything! regarding Election 2016 grossly diminishes us all but here, here’s a subscription, redemption and growth are elements that reside in all of us. Right?

Sessions Boxes Trump In

by Deacon Blues

As the walls close in on son-in-law Jared Kushner, Dear Leader went nuts again this morning and blasted his own Attorney General for not using DOJ lawyers to pre-determine that FISA processes were abused by the FBI to nail campaign aide Carter Page. Instead, AG Jeff Sessions followed the process and turned the Devin Nunes' allegations that the FBI investigation was tainted over to the DOJ Inspector General's Office.

But Sessions went a little further this morning in defending himself from Trump's attack. He laid down a marker:

"We have initiated the appropriate process that will ensure complaints against this department will be fully and fairly acted upon if necessary. As long as I am the attorney general, I will continue to discharge my duties with integrity and honor, and this department will continue to do its work in a fair and impartial manner according to the law and Constitution."

By wording his pushback this way, Sessions has boxed Trump in. If Trump moves to fire Sessions, he tosses aside Sessions' acting with "integrity and honor," and in "a fair and impartial manner according to the law and Constitution." And with House Oversight Committee chairman Trey Gowdy supporting the Justice IG, it leaves Trump out in the cold should he act against Sessions.